Heard the same

It will be a bad blow losing Reynolds and JC withthe business end of the season approaching. Unfortunately it’s the nature of our game, and the decision to go with a smaller squad will probably be the ultimate downfall.

However hope springs eternal and finally, the emergence of our youth system may yet unearth another string to our bow, without the knee jerk reaction of going out and replacing Reynolds, perhaps a chance for the young Davy Litten who has caught my eye playing centre and full back, he may be a little slight now, but seems like he could play the old fashioned stand off role, who knows he may get a chance.

It’s that type of season without scrums, Chuck a bit of pace on, as middles etc tire, and rich rewards are for the taking.

The only reason I am still hopeful is that until he's had a scan no one can know as after experiencing both MCL and ACL myself over the years its impossible to be able to say it is or isn't without a scan.

Think Hodgson will stick with the same team Connor at Full back and bring in McNamara with Shaul again on the bench to play down the middle and reverting to the full back position when necessary like he did against HKR.
If Fonua is back then he may get the nod over Scott
Hope Big Chris is back but seems too quiet about his absense so i doubt he will be back

I'd stick with Scott over Fonua, Fonua should be made to earn his place back. Scott didn't stand out on Saturday but at least he doesn't give the ball away repeatedly and is a young player who should improve with more game time.

Agree plus he's a lot less of a risk in terms of discipline as he certainly doesn't give away penalties as frequently as Fonua. For me Fonua really needs to shape up or go as we are carrying a thin squad and simply can't afford to carry his hit on the cap nor overseas quota spot, it may sound brutal but we can't afford to be sentimental as it was just that 'sentiment' why he was re signed and its costing the team.

I agree that Mahe has not been playing well and his error rate has been quite high, and can understand that he needs to earn his place back, but give the guy a break. I recently watched again our win at Cas earlier in the season and Fonua was a constant threat in the centre. If we can get him back to that kind of form, fit and firing he's an asset.

In general, there seems to be a tendency to rate people as either hero or villain, with nothing in between. A perfect example of this has been Manu Mau, where quite a few posters have criticised him and said we shouldn't renew his contract, but then after Saturday we've suddenly got people praising him. In my view he's been a good consistent performer, who always puts tremendous effort in. Players will go through loss of form, probably affected by niggling injuries, but the polarised view of many is, I think, unfair.

... imagine how this forum would have reacted if rovers had won with a penalty in the last few seconds.

The same game for 80 minutes, but total meltdown.

I don’t think I have said anything that is unwarranted to be honest to need to give him a break. For a player who is more than likely in the higher pay bracket and also taking up a quota sport he has so far not found any real form and in by and large a liability in giving away possession and penalties.
I’d hoped he’d turned a corner when moved to centre and made comment but sadly he just hasn’t maintained any form since he came back.

I get what you’re saying about players going through loss of form but can you honestly say Mahe has really shown any form since he re signed? Even at Wests he struggled.

I agree in that game against Cas he looked pretty good but that’s hasn’t lasted nor has he done in enough so I think it’s fair to question that.

Mau has been consistent and he has still been improving and he was one of the standouts on Saturday.

... maybe you can explain how "For me Fonua really needs to shape up or go" will work.

Are you going to pay him off?

Have I said anything about paying him off? No I think not.

It’s the same as any contract if you don’t perform as expected your contract will not be renewed and you’ll be gone at the end of it. Is that simple enough for you?

That’s why sentiment is never a good reason to sign anyone and in all honesty is a highly probable reason he was re signed as he hadn’t been in great form prior to his injury and coming back over.

Dear oh dear, you're talking about getting rid of a player who is contracted until the end of next season, is that too complicated for you?

Nope that’s your assumption and an incorrect one. He can shape up or go as in when his contract ends or do you suggest we just re resign him again just because he did well for us last time?

Like I said in the very same post about sentiment. If you want to take part of my post out of context and wrongly assume because you think you know what I’m talking about thats not my problem.

Out of context, don't make me laugh...



You're just emphasising the point I'm making, since when was not renewing a contract "brutal".

Because of the sentiment associated with Fonua. Saying he needs to shape up or go does sound brutal when it said with no sentimentality in what said but there’s sentimental feelings associated . If I was to be sentimental I’d have said shape up to earn a new deal.

So again you chose to take it out of context, then highlighting just the word brutal to make your argument.

Not renewing a players contract who was a favourite because of what he did first time round but doesn’t then get near his previous levels, theb doesn’t get a renewal is normal without any sentiment in the way. But to say shape or go as I said sounds brutal when sentiment is in the equation.

Or do you think think we should stick with a sentimentality because of what he did first time? We all want nothing more than to see Fonua regain the performance levels he hit the first time but he’s come no where close nor been consistent enough for a player that as I said will likely be at the top end of earners at the club. With a very thin squad, its a quota spot he takes up he needs to be producing a higher level of performance and more consistently than he has. Or do you disagree and think he’s been good enough since he came back?

Well that sorted that one eh hahaha!!!

I don't think Hodgson is sold on Fonua, if you go back to the start of the season he didn't start, that speaks volumes for me.

It's nothing to do with how good or bad players are, you, and others seem to think the club can simply get rid when they are still under contract.
And now you're saying it's all about making decisions at the end of their contracts, which is hardly rocket science.

What a load of tosh and wrong assumptions from you again. I've not said the club can simply just get rid while under contract so you've misinterpreted. Of course it got to do with how good or bad players are and would you say then in your view Fonua does not need to improve on his game?

I don't know what your or others do or don't think and don't profess to do so.

Do I think the Fonua re signinng was a mistake? Yes as it very rarely works out and based of his performances since returning it seems to be proving so.

Its not about making decisions at end of his contract either or are you just saying the club wait until his contract ends before they think about replacing him as these decisions are made long before as we know.

And no its not rocket science which is why I said it was simple what I put, I never mentioned cancelling his contract, paying him off, you just thought and assumed wrongly that's what I meant.

If Fonua's contract was up for renewal at the end of this season then I'd have fully agreed with you, but there's over a year still to go, so getting rid at this stage is not an option, especially when club finances are at rock bottom.

Hodgson dropped Fonua when he was at Wests too when we was in the Reserves.

After hearing what Fonua did to breach Covid protocol, I wouldn't play him for the rest of the year

If I wasn't clear in the way I put it then I'll hold my hand up but I wasn't talking about simply getting rid by cancelling his contract or paying him off (as I would have said that) and certainly not when the state of the game is financially rocky and the club can ill afford to pay a player off. Not getting the level of performance or consistently as would have been expected from him is costing the club on the field. We all know he can play much better than he has done so so far and when you look at Faraimo who for me was a bit hit and miss but this season he certainly seems to have improved his game and performance levels but for some reason Fonua just doesn't seem to have since he returned.

If it’s that bad surely there’s a case for breach of contract?

Just seen Salford gave been fined by the RFL for breaking covid regulations which then caused two games including ours to be called off, surely in this case we should get the points.

Well he went against the owners wishes - but not technically a breach of contract

I'd tend to agree that if these games were called off as a direct result of the breaking the covid regulations then the teams who they were due to play should be awarded the games as wins 24-0.